Vet returns from live ex voyage

Sixteen and a half thousand head of cattle probably don't sound like the ideal travelling companions to most.

But for former Gippsland vet Dr Peter Arnold, a voyage to Europe with a ship load of cattle was a great adventure.

"I can only discuss little bits of it, because obviously it's a commercial business. The knowledge of the voyage belongs to the owners of the business. But I can tell you I was on a ship with some Angus cattle, mostly from Victoria." he said.

"They were exported from Portland (Victoria). And we picked up a few in Western Australia, took them across the Indian Ocean, up past Somalia, through the Red Sea, through the Suez Canal, the Mediterranean, the Bosporus and into the Black Sea."

Dr Arnold was employed by live animal export company but reported independently to the Australian Quarantine Inspection Service (AQIS).

He says the ship, which could accommodate 25,000 head of cattle, carried 16,500 on this recent voyage.

"I can't disclose the mortality rate, that information belongs to the exporter. But I can tell you, that very, very, very few died. And those that did die were of misadventure, rather than disease", Dr Arnold said.